


Let Go of It Just for Tonight

by I_stole_a_cannon



Series: Jedi's Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: also mentions of galactic senate propaganda, also some hints of when all the hell these one shots take place!, anakin may not be a dad, because there had to be some right, but he is a good older brother, quality bonding time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21723658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_stole_a_cannon/pseuds/I_stole_a_cannon
Summary: At the end of the day, they are still just kidsOR Anakin and some of the padawans go on a bonding excursion
Series: Jedi's Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1328081
Comments: 1
Kudos: 53





	Let Go of It Just for Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> we love finals season for giving me too much free time. sorry in advance, this one is super dialogue heavy

Alyrisa and Verilya came down to the hangar at dusk. It was unusual for them to come down and not be greeting anyone or not sneaking out in the middle of the night. So the daylight, even a little, was a surprise. They were greeted by Ahsoka and Kladinestra. Ahsoka waved them down and they joined her.

“Okay, now we just need to find a speeder big enough for all of us.” Kladinestra said. Ahsoka and Alyrisa nodded but Verilya furrowed her brow.

“There’s four of us, it shouldn’t be that difficult.” Verilya said. Ahsoka turned to Alyrisa and it was her turn to look confused.

“You didn’t tell her?” Ahsoka asked.

“If I told her, she wouldn’t have come and you know it.” Alyrisa replied.

“Tell me what?” Verilya asked.

“I mean, you’re right, but she deserves at least a warning. That way she doesn’t freak.” Ahsoka agreed.

“Freak about what?” Verilya asked in a nearly begging tone.

“Ver’s not gonna freak.” Alyrisa assured.

“She may not obviously freak, but she’s gonna freak somewhat.” Ahsoka countered.

“She’s not gonna freak!” Alyrisa insisted. Verilya rolled her eyes.

“Guys!” Verilya exclaimed. Ahsoka and Alyrisa stopped bickering and turned to Verilya. “What’re you not telling me?” She asked.

“Um…” Ahsoka started to explain.

“You guys ready to go?” A new voice asked from the elevator. All the color drained from Verilya’s face as she glared at Alyrisa. 

“I’m going to kill you both.” Verilya hissed.

“You wouldn’t dream of it Ver,” Alyrisa replied with a grin that could only be described as shit eating. 

“Try me!” Verilya hissed just as Anakin Skywalker had finished wandering to the quartet. 

“Verilya, I didn’t know you were coming.” He said with a smile.

“I invited her, figured you wouldn’t mind.” Alyrisa said with a shrug, her hands shoved in her pockets in doing so. Verilya wanted to remark on how despite it being Alyrisa’s usual appearance of her oversized robe, she seemed at ease in it as compared to her usual stature of almost burrowed in it. Whatever had happened on Pantora, had warmed Alyrisa to the young master.

“I can go if it’s too much trouble.” Verilya added. Her voice lost its usual ease and composure. It was short and almost frantic. Her usual careless word choice had been abandoned for somewhat proper grammar. Anakin chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it, the speeder’ll just be a bit squished.” He said.

“Padawan gets shotgun!” Ahsoka exclaimed as she raced to the speeder. 

“Dibs on not the middle!” Alyrisa called soon after. Kladinestra ran for the speeder and Verilya hesitated slightly. Could she manage this? She wanted to throw herself from the council’s spire that might make her feel better. Anakin nodded his head toward the speeder.

“C’mon,” he said. Verilya nodded hesitantly and walked to get into the speeder, sliding next to Kladinestra in the back. Anakin got into the driver’s seat and they set off, tearing through the hovering streets of Coruscant. 

“Any idea what holo you’re gonna see?” Kladinestra asked the other members of the backseat over the wind.

“Not sure, I’ll have to see when I get there.” Alyrisa said.

“Same,” Verilya said quietly. It was a lie. There was an adaptation of a Holosoap she’d been following that was in the theatres that she’d been  _ dying _ to sneak out and see, but she found it far too embarrassing to admit out loud. Even if the odds that Anakin could hear her was unlikely.

“Oh c’mon Ver,” Alyrisa chirped. “You’ve been waiting for the adaptations for months, we were gonna-”

“Al!” Kladinestra tried to catch her before she revealed that the Padawns had a tendency to go on late night adventures without the council’s knowledge.

“Would you relax, ‘Soka here probably tells this idiot about it anyway.” Alyrisa replied. They didn’t have time to argue any further as they arrived at a holotheater. With little effort, the padawans got out, scanning the marquee for anything that caught their eye. Alyrisa was leaning against Ahsoka and gestured to the latest title in a long line of Senate approved propaganda pieces regarding the war.

“What, you want to watch an outdated piece of propaganda?” Ahsoka asked.

“Think about it, for us, it’s a comedy gold mine. 5 credits say they don’t even mention the droidikas and 7 credits on an idolization of Kenobi.” Alyrisa said with a grin. Ahoska seemed to think it over but then allowed a smirk to crawl onto her face.

“I’ll put 7 on the idolization of Skyguy, face it. He’s the eye candy.” She whispered. Alyrisa laughed.

“Maker knows that’s about all he’s good for.” Alyrisa replied which got a laugh out of Ahsoka. “What about you Nestra?” Alyrisa asked as Kladinestra was looking up as well. She wandered over and stood next to the duo who were still leaning on each other. 

“There’s a dumb action movie that could be fun, could just sit and watch that.”   


“Seems like a fair choice.” Ahsoka remarked. “Ver?” She asked. Verilya looked at the marquee and saw the adaptation of the holosoap. She wanted to say it, but couldn’t figure out how to.

“I might tag along with Kladinestra.” She said. Kladinestra rolled her eyes.

“Absolutely not,” Kladinestra said. 

“What, you don’t want to be-” Verilya tried to argue.

“We want you to be honest with yourself,” Alyrisa said as she traded from leaning on Ahsoka to leaning on Verilya. 

“Skyguy!” Ahsoka called over. Verilya tried to hide behind Alyrisa, but the way Alyrisa was leaning on her wouldn’t allow it. She had trapped her, Verilya glared at her slightly and again only received was a smirk. Anakin came over and raised his eyebrow. 

“What’s the problem?” He asked.

“Not a problem,” Alyrisa said.

“More like a minor intervention,” Ahsoka added.

“Okay, what’s the minor intervention?” He asked with a small smirk. Verilya wanted to dive off the platform, but the way Alyrisa was leaning on her still kept her hostage.

“Verilya’s pretending that she doesn’t want to see the adaptation of the holosoap she’s been-”

“Al!” Verilya snapped. 

“Oh c’mon like he doesn’t know, someone has to be monitoring the comms to some extent.” Alyrisa replied. 

“Why are you pretending to not want to see this?” He asked. Verilya looked down. 

“As if it needs saying Skyguy,” Ahsoka said. Verilya wanted to strangle her and if looks could kill, Ahsoka would already be buried.

“I’ll see it with you,” He said.

“You would?” She asked. She slightly wanted to throw herself off a building a little less.

“Yeah, it’s either that or propaganda and I don’t really need to watch what I see every other day on my day off.” He said with a shrug. Alyrisa got off of Verilya’s shoulder and went back to Ahsoka’s.

“So it’s settled, Skywalker will go with Veri, Ahsoka and I will stick together, and Kladinestra’s on her own. Sorry Nes,”

“It’s fine, prefer it.” She said. Anakin gave them enough credits for them to get in and get some form of food. Ahsoka and Alyrisa almost ran in, laughing and making their bets ahead of time. Kladinestra saluted Anakin and walked off paying the ticket guy and wandering into the theater. Verilya looked over at Anakin, and she tried to keep the terrified look off her face as she did so.

“You really don’t-”   


“Relax Ver, I wanted to, now c’mon or we’ll miss it.” He said. Verilya tried not to have a heart attack and followed behind him as he paid, got food, and wandered in the direction of the theater. It was an older one, seeing as it only had the row dividers, making the screens on the back of everyone’s chairs, rather than individual viewing cabinets for each person in attendance. Verilya wanted to ask where Anakin had found the time to find this place between classes, Ahsoka, and oh yeah  _ the war.  _ But she figured if the padawans were allowed to have secrets, than Skywalker could have some too. Verilya tried to get too bundled up in her seat, Alyrisa always made fun of her for not being able to sit in theater seats properly, but she was hardly one to judge. She practically took up three of them with how much she splayed out. She peaked out of the corner of her eye to look at Anakin, who looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. She let out a sigh and focused ahead. They got a handful of adverts for various other holo pictures and a couple of various products on sale around Coruscant. Finally it started and Verilya felt all the stress of the events that got her here disappear. She was engrossed in the drama unfolding in front of her. She could almost forget Anakin was with her, except occasionally she’d hear a small laugh from him. 

Eventually the picture ended and the magic was lifted. Verilya stretched herself out a bit and looked over at Anakin who was also stretching himself out and standing up. Verilya stood up as well and the duo walked out. There they found Ahsoka, Alyrisa, and Kladinestra already waiting. 

“Glad to see you still standing Ver,” Alyrisa teased with a smirk. Verilya rolled her eyes. “How was the show?” 

“Better than expected.” Anakin said. Verilya turned to him. “I would’ve never picked it myself, but I’m glad you did Ver,” he added. Verilya smiled and nodded once.

“How was the propaganda?” Verilya asked.

“I am now 12 credits richer.” Alyrisa said with a smirk. Ahsoka laughed.

“Yeah only because you managed to guess that they were going to try and pin the Zillo Beast incident on the Separatists.” She said.

“Wait seriously?” Kladinestra asked.

“Seriously!” Ahsoka said. “I thought the Council had taken responsibility for that.”

“The Council? Taking responsibility for a mistake?” Anakin posed. The group of Padawans looked at him, a rare moment of honesty from a technically higher ranking member of the Order.

“I mean, you’re right.” Alyrisa said in an effort to break the enchanted silence. Ahsoka glanced at her. “What? We all have problems with the Council. I think it’s part of being a Jedi.” 

“Tell that to Barriss,” Kladinestra muttered.

“Barriss is an outlier and should not be counted, we’ve been over this.” Alyrisa quipped. Anakin chuckled, he was a little impressed with how tight the four of them were.

“C’mon, we should head to dinner.” Anakin said. 

“Agreed, I’m starving,” Kladinestra said. The quintet wandered over to the speeder they had taken there and loaded themselves in. They set out and immediately none of them knew where they were going. Anakin was driving for a relative edge of the part of the city that the others were used to. Kladinestra looked to Alyrisa who shook her head. Eventually they arrived at a small, shabbier looking building. It’s speeder lot was small and so when Anakin pulled up, they were a little squished getting out. 

“Dex’s Diner,” Ahsoka read out. 

“Looks cozy,” Kladinestra remarked.

“I love it,” Alyrisa declared as she immediately started going for the door. Anakin chuckled as Verilya went after her. The group wandered in and Alyrisa’s eyes lit up. The diner was indeed cozy, only a certain number of tables and a bar down the middle with a kitchen in the back. A service droid rolled over. 

“Seat yourselves, I’ll be with you in a minute.” They said. Anakin gestured for the group to lead. Alyrisa immediately went for a booth and slid in to be at the window. Ahsoka went in next, sitting next to Alyrisa. Verilya sat across from Alyrisa, hoping that Anakin would sit next to his padawan, but Kladinestra got there first, forcing him next to her. Alyrisa was lounging, making her position so she could see everyone at the table and the rest of the restaurant. A subtle sign that she hadn’t fully relaxed yet. The service droid rolled over and the group ordered with no issue. A silence fell over the group and it was Alyrisa who got fed up with it first. She pulled one of her arms from around the back and put ten fingers in front of her. Verilya noticed it first.

“You can’t be serious,” she said

“I am very serious.” Alyrisa replied. Verilya sighed knowing there was no arguing and put ten fingers up herself. Kladinestra and Ahsoka followed suit.

“Targeted or non targeted?” Kladinestra asked. Anakin looked between the padawans in confusion. What were they talking about?

“Targeted, dirty laundry in public is always best.”

“Standard target rules apply though,” Verilya cut in.

“What?” Anakin asked. Alyrisa turned to him, like she was just remembering he was there.

“Targeted Never Have I Ever. If you know someone’s done something, call them out. See who else has also done it. No information disclosed during the game can be held against you in later confrontations.” Alyrisa explained. “Ten fingers, let’s go.” She added. Anakin did as instructed, putting 10 fingers up. 

“Challenger first,” Kladinestra said. Alyrisa nodded and pulled her lip between her teeth, thinking about it.

“Never have I ever destroyed a training droid beyond repair.” She said. Kladinestra and Anakin both put a finger down. “Next left,” she quipped, making Ahsoka go next.

“Never have I ever crashed a ship.” She said. Again, Anakin put a finger down, glaring at his padawan the whole time. Verilya also put a finger down. “Seriously?” Ahsoka asked.

“I can’t fly for shit, we know this.” Verilya replied. The group chuckled. Kladinestra looked around at the group and grinned.

“Never have I ever stolen from the cantine.” She said. Alyrisa put a finger down and so did Anakin. 

“Wow…” Anakin joked when he saw Alyrisa’s finger go down.

“There were cookies and Heleilei was sick.” She said. The group laughed a little and all turned expectantly to Anakin. He looked around the table.

“Can you call yourself out or…”

“You sure that’s wise Skyguy?” Ahsoka asked.

“Yeah seeing as you’re currently losing?” Kladinestra added.

“Guys, guys c’mon, this is Skywalker we’re talking about.” Verilya cut in. Alyrisa immediately doubled over as did the rest of the group. Anakin looked over at her with both amusement and mock hurt.

“And here I thought you of all people would be on my side.”

“Sorry Anakin, you set yourself up on that one.” Verilya replied with a shrug. He laughed and gave a nod of approval. 

“Alright, alright, never have I ever been shot at on a mission.” He said putting his finger down. Alyrisa also put his finger down and glared at him. 

“Wait what!” Verilya exclaimed.

“Oh yeah…” Alyrisa muttered.

“What do you mean you got shot!?”

“Well, you wanna know why I was on bedrest when I got back from Pantora?”   


“And you didn’t tell me!” Verilya said glaring at both Alyrisa and Anakin.

“I was sworn not to.” Anakin put his hands up in surrender. 

“We are so not done.” Verilya said with a glare. Alyrisa shrugged. “Never have I ever passed out in front of a senator.” She said. It was Alyrisa’s turn to glare as she put a finger down. 

“Wait, which one?” Ahsoka asked. 

“Three guesses.” Kladinestra said as she was chuckling in remembrance of the incident.

“Can we move on?” Alyrisa asked.

“No, no, no, you know the rules.” Verilya said with a smirk. 

“Fine, I was a youngling and it was Senator Amidala, happy?”   


“Senator Amidala?” Anakin asked.

“Okay, now I  _ gotta  _ know the story.” Ahsoka said with a grin. Alyrisa rolled her eyes.

“Look, I was a small child from some unknown planet and I’m faced with Senator Amidala, you tell me I wasn’t supposed to pass out after looking at the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. I’m a being with eyes.” She said. Anakin snorted and Alyrisa snuck a glance at him. Yup,  _ definitely  _ boned at least once.

“Doesn’t stop it from being hilarious.” Verilya said. They were saved from another round when the service droid rolled back over with their food. The meal was intercut with discussions of ships, and droids, and the temple. They all avoided discussing the war, seeming to agree that it was off limits. As the meal wound down. Alyrisa had eased and so had Verilya. Anakin was looking at the group with a large sense of fondness, something he didn’t know how to pin down. 

“Thanks for this, by the way.” Kladinestra said. Anakin chuckled slightly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“Oh but we’ve gotta, I don’t remember the last time I got a sanctioned day off.” Verilya said. 

“Was it the Zillo Beast incident?” Kladinestra asked.

“Feel like it might’ve been.” Alyrisa said. 

“Alright, point taken. You’re welcome. And I’ll probably have to talk to the council about giving you guys more time off.” He said.

“This is why you’re the favorite Skywalker.” Kladinestra said. 

“I thought we weren’t going to bring that up,” Alyrisa jokingly said with a lazy smirk. The group packed up after Anakin paid for the group, something they were all thankful for, and headed back to the speeder. The ride back to the temple was quiet and a little melancholic, it almost made Verilya wish something would happen so this excursion didn’t have to end. Too soon they pulled into the Temple hanger and the Padawans filed out. 

“I’ve got an R6 unit to work on, I’ll see you guys later.” Kladinestra said as she wandered to the elevator. 

“I’m gonna go get some rest, I’ll see you tomorrow Skyguy.” Ahsoka said, following closely behind. Alyrisa looked at her roommate and simply gave her and Anakin a salute.

“Caledance said she wanted to talk, see ya later Lusa.” She said as she jogged to catch up with the others. Verilya rolled her eyes and looked at Anakin. After spending the day with him, and learning that he had managed to accidentally get her friend shot, the mystique had quietly disappeared. 

“I should get some reading done, Master Fisto might have my head otherwise.” She said with a smile. “But thank you again, Master Skywalker.” She added.

“Not a problem, Ver,” He said. “I’m staying down here to get some work done on the Twilight, I’ll let you go.” He added. Verilya laughed and rolled her eyes.

“What, afraid I’ll poke it and it’ll fall to scrap?” She joked.    


“Something like that.” He said. She gave him a glare that she didn’t clearly mean.

“Alright, well don’t burst into flames.” 

“Will endeavour not to.” He said with a small salute. Verilya gave him one as well and went to the elevator. 

She would thank Alyrisa later if Verilya wasn’t convinced it would go to her head and she’d get an “I told you so” in response.

  
  



End file.
